FGCU basketball notebook: Women's team adjusts to early tipoffs

Lexey Swall/Staff
Courtney Chihil, from left, Kelsey Jacobson and Brittany Kennedy joke around as they and other Florida Gulf Coast University women's basketball players react to the game between University of North Florida and Kennesaw State University on Thursday afternoon at the Atlantic Sun basketball tournament at Mercer University in Macon, Ga. Kennesaw State beat North Florida 51- 49 in a dramatic comeback. FGCU will face Kennesaw State in the semifinal game Friday at noon.

MACON, Ga. - Rise and shine.

So far, Florida Gulf Coast University's women's basketball team has done that in its first-ever Atlantic Sun tournament quarterfinal, when the top-seeded Eagles shot down No. 8 East Tennessee State 79-63 on Wednesday afternoon.

FGCU (27-2), in its first year of postseason eligibility, plays No. 5 Kennesaw State (14-16) in a noon semifinal today and, should the Eagles win, they'll play the title game at noon Saturday.

FGCU's earliest home games were at 5:15 p.m. this season although they did have a few 1 p.m. tips on the road.

How does FGCU coach Karl Smesko manage the early tipoffs?

"Just have to get up early, shoot-around at 7 or so," he said. "Try to get to bed earlier. I like it. It's good to get the game out of the way instead of sitting around all day waiting for it."

Senior guard Kelsey Jacobson is not a huge fan of the early starts, but is getting used to them.

"I prefer evening games, but the noon tips are nice because that's the first game of the day and we get the full hour before the game to warm up. And a lot of our girls like to get a lot of shots up before the game," Jacobson said. "A lot of us had been getting in the habit of waking up early and being prepared that way. I think our team actually likes getting up early.

"We had a 6 a.m. practice earlier this week and it went well — people were executing at a high level."

But the early tip did cost the sixth-seeded FGCU men some support for their 8:30 quarterfinal against No. 3 USC Upstate on Thursday night. The women's team left at halftime.

"We'd love to be there for the whole thing, but when you've got to be on the floor at 7 a.m., it's hard to stay here till 10:30, 11 at night," Smesko said.

All-out: FGCU led ETSU just 38-34 at the half before exploding to score the first 17 points after intermission against the oft-pressing, running Bucs.

Jacobson said that game really took it out of the Eagles.

"After the game all of us were really exhausted," Jacobson said. "There was a lot of hype building up for that game — a lot of pressure. Getting that out of the way was a relief."

After showers and a film session, the Eagles dined at Logan's Roadhouse.

Jacobson said some fell asleep at the table.

Back to high school: The Eagles took in Kennesaw State's dramatic 51-49 comeback win in Wednesday's noon quarterfinal to scout their next foe.

After it, they headed to Mount de Sales Academy to practice in peace. Director of basketball ops Mel Thomas set that up weeks ago.

"We know who we're playing, so we'll go over their strengths and personnel and what we feel we need to do well to score and what we need to do to take them out of what they want to run," Smesko said of the workout.

High drama: No. 5 KSU's 51-49 win in Thursday's noon quarterfinal against No. 5 North Florida was wild and wacky.

UNF led almost the entire game — including by 16 points early in the second half — and appeared in total control. The Ospreys led by 11 in the low-scoring defensive game with under eight minutes left. But KSU closed with an 11-2 run, including a really strange 4-1 run in the final 20 seconds.

That's when 5-foot-5 freshman point guard Taylor Mills stole a pass and scored, giving KSU a 49-48 lead, its first since early in the game. The Owls fouled UNF senior all-conference guard Brittany Kirkland with 5.7 seconds left. Kirkland swished the first free throw, but missed the second.

It wouldn't have counted anyway as UNF was called for a lane violation, which stopped the clock and gave KSU an out of bounds situation under its own basket. Mills took the pass and charged downcourt, heaving a 25-foot shot with two seconds left.

Mills, who made two 3-pointers in the last three minutes, was fouled and made two of three free throws for the 51-49 win.

"She's the freshman of the year for a reason," said 17th-year KSU coach Colbey Tilley. "In 35 years of coaching, I've never had a freshman with the composure she has. And to be a point guard on top of all that and to be able to do all the things she has to do ... we've come to expect that of her."

Said Mills: "I was so, so nervous. Coming out on top was a great feeling."